What becomes of film once it leaves the cinema? How do moving images work in settings beyond the classical dispositive of the public screening – in the home, the scientific laboratory, the classroom or in public spaces? And how does technological change – particularly the emergence of digital photography and the proliferation of network communication – affect the shape and uses of moving images?

Based on a conception of moving image culture that exceeds and challenges the established methodological frameworks of cinema studies, this research collective examines a wide variety of configurations of film including, and beyond, the classical cinema space. Twelve doctoral students and two postdoctoral fellows per cohort will study these different aspects of moving image culture with the input and under the supervision of fifteen established researchers in an interdisciplinary setting, addressing topics in film and media studies, philosophy, musicology and literature.

Zach Blas will be a Mercator Fellow with the collective during the month of November.